Does your cat...?

Does your RL cat show any of these behaviours:

- going to the toilet where it shouldn't inside
- aggression towards humans
- aggression towards other cats
- runs and hides
- has not shown any behaviour problems
- shows other behaviour problems

None of those.

The only annoying things he does are:

Begs for food constantly, even when he has food. I think this is a holdover from an old room-mate we had - she constantly fed him treats and filled the food bowl to the brim.

He simply must drink from the water glass I keep on my nightstand, usually knocking it over in the process. He will jam his entire head in the glass. He always has fresh water in his bowl, so, I think this is just a ploy to get my attention, and it usually does.

Paws at my door to tell me he wants to come in my bedroom at night, then wants out within 10 minutes. This has gotten worse as he ages. He seems to become more indecisive and finicky the older he gets. I don't like getting up once I am in bed (until my alarm goes off that is), so I have taken to generally not letting him in my room at night.


All that said, I love him very much! That damned cat!

Zina - it's rare for a litter or outside trained cat to go to the toilet where it should not. If your cat is doing this, it's worth a trip to to vet to make sure that he/she does not have an infection or kidney problems. If this behaviour is combined with agression, it really can be an indicator that kitty is not feeling well and should be checked out.

If the vet does not find any problems and the behaviour continues, then kitty is trying to tell you something. Maybe he/she does not like the style of litter box or perhaps kitty just wants more of your attention?

All cats are agressive at times toward other cats, even my two, raised together go through spells where they fight. Cats need "alone time" separated, where the other cat is not allowed to go and annoy them. They also need hiding places too, even if you know about their hiding place, they need to think that you don't.

The only sort of dicipline that I ever use with my cats is a squirt gun, to keep them from getting up on the counter and to let them know that I am "all powerful" and can even reach them from across the room and the "time out kitty cage".

The time-out kitty cage is for when they do something really asscattery, like scratch the furniture, climb the curtains or break something.

You see, cats HATE to be humiliated and so I put the misbehaving cat in a cat carrier in the middle of the room. This allows other well behaved cat to walk by and taunt the asscat in the carrier (and trust me, they will). After About 15 minutes of this I have a well behaved cat once again, though the first thing they will do when they get out is go find their hiding place and spend a couple of hours recovering their dignity.

Hope your little cat friend is ok and that it's just a behaviour issue.

.

Hi Nolan,

Yep sounds like you know the basis of that begging behaviour already! And you are dealing with his nocturnal knocking well too. Hard as it may be...

Do you have other cats in the house?

I can just imagine him sticking his head in the glass - how funny! Cats love to have water in strange places (well strange to us, but completely practical to them). I too have glasses of water placed around my place.


Thanks for letting me know about your cat. Contact me inworld if you anything else comes up related to your cat that concerns you.

Hi Rose,



Great advice. Particularly about the inappropriate elimination indoors and a having a vet check.

And cats (particularly in multi-cat households - more than 2) having their own hiding places - can i add - a toilet 'rule' for indoor cats, provide one litter tray for each cat PLUS ONE. This can help so much with multi-cat households.

Yes, cats can be aggressive towards other cats, even those that they may have been raised with, particularly when they mature socially.

Squirt gun (or container with coins in it) can work, but be very very careful that the cat does not associate you with the squirt or noise - otherwise it can make the problem worse.

Hmm, mixed thoughts on the time-out cage - would be great to have a discussion about this in SL.

Thanks for your concern and reply - it is great to talk to other cat owners. I wanted to do a poll to get an idea of what problems people out there might have with their cats so that we can have discussions relating to them in SL - also that I can cover them in my cat psychology classes.

Hope to see you inworld soon!

Many thanks!

Ohhhh - a cat psychology class, what a great idea, please IM me or post when you have a date for this? I am absolutely facinated by animal behaviour in general, cats in particular.

Rose

Definately will Rose. Great to talk to another cat lover! See you soon.

I have three cats. And all of those choices have fallen on at least one or more of them at some point.

We used to have another, but the roomie I mentioned above took her with when she moved out.

She was quite a bit younger, and constantly antagonized the older, male cat. Par for the course I suppose.

At first, we were worried he would kill her. He would go for her throat pretty viciously. After a couple of months, he started to slowly accept her. It's too bad they had to be split up, I think he misses her. He is much more demanding of attention than he was before she lived here.

I have two cats, and I am glad to say they really get on well. I have never known them to have any kind of disagreement, and they seem to spend all their available time together, often cuddling up together to sleep. Mind you I obtained them both as kittens at the same time, so that might be why they have bonded so well.

So that I don't make them sound too much like paragons, I have to admit that one of them was responsible for actually flooding the house by managing to turn on the tap of the bathroom sink while we were out. We came home to find the stairs had been turned into a rather attractive waterfall.

Ah yes, the squirt gun. My little cat likes the squirt gun. She likes to goad me into squirting at her while she runs around bouncing off the walls. I have to keep the squirt gun hidden, or she will take it and play with it as if it were a catnip mousie and drip water all over the place. She also likes to hide it -- sometimes she sleeps on it.

Throw a can of coins? That's fun, too! "See me sticking this one claw in the screen? Muahaha! I am such a baaaaaaaad kitty! You'd better pitch that can of coins over here, Ma, so I can hug it in a deathgrip, bite it where it should have a head, and kick the hell out of it with my hindclaws so it rattles real good!"

Best cat discipline I've found is pretty straightforward: I just say, "No!" and stop the cat from doing whatever she's doing. Then I tell her she sucks and refuse to pet her or play with her for a little while (have to do this cold-shoulder thing, 'cause my manipulative fatto used to claw furniture -- and slam the cabinet door incessantly, knock things over, etc. -- to get my attention when I was sleeping or working). They get the idea pretty quick what isn't allowed, and if they try doing it again after they know better, I don't even have to raise my voice or get up from my chair when I tell em to cut the crap -- they know when they're caught.

I had a lot of help in this with my little cat, because the older cat enjoyed lording it over her. If little cat would, say, bite a cord, I'd say "No!" and the big cat would run over and beat her up a bit, then come to me to be petted. Most effective cat training technique ever! I should rent out my fatto Enforcer Cat to train other cats. lol

I couldn't sleep nude with my cat, it would sneak under the covers and try to um...nurse. Quite disturbing!

That kitty is gone now.

(Warning: You may consider this T.M.I.. )

Not exactly. I think my cat's the reincarnation of someone who used to make really bad jokes, because every now and then he'll go sniff at the toilet... while it's flushing.
Like the whirling and vanishing fascinates him or something.

How to toilet train your cat
http://www.karawynn.net/mishacat/toilet.html

love reading about all your cats and the different things they get up to. FYI - the number one reported behavioural problem (found by therapists and vets) is inappropriate elimination - going to the toilet where they shouldn't. Aggression comes in second - so interesting to see that it is leading in this poll. However, the sample that the professionals get would be different to our sample here.

I would be willing to attend this class as well.. I have 7 cats, 2 of the 7 did get along with each other at one time but now are enemies one is female and the other male when he is even in the area she will growl at him, last night i saw him jump up and swat at her as she was on the bed, he is a pure breed silver tabby and is often instigates the problems with her, he crys throughout the house at times he plops down in front of me and rolls on his back for attention even when in the bathroom lol, with the other cats he is a cuddle bug ..Im me if a talk session develops

My cat died last week. You're so insensitive.

Not really a behavior problem, but one of my cats woke me up snoring last night. I thought it was one of my human compatriots at first, but no, it was my little furry bundle of joy. He stopped when I scratched his ears, but I was simultaneously annoyed and amused.

Haha i have a cat that snores too and one that growls in his sleep.. it's so funny to listen to

So sorry about your loss

Please IM me about the cat discussion group too!

coco

Hi everyone,

thanks again for sharing your cat stories. I've heard that snoring is quite uncommon in cats, and can be related to a few health issues - you might want to call your vet if it continues. Cocoanut and Aces - will be sure to let you know about discussions and classes.

Cletus, if you feel like you need to talk about your loss please IM me inworld.

BTW Nisa - was that particular cat Siamese or Burmese? And that behaviour is known as 'picca' - the sucking or eating of inappropriate objects!